


Drabble Collection: Not Quite a Mermaid, Not Quite Human.

by Ren86



Category: One Piece
Genre: Drabble Collection, F/M, Friendship, Gen, More tags to be added as I think of them I guess, POV First Person, POV Third Person
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-25
Updated: 2017-05-25
Packaged: 2018-11-04 23:11:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 2,944
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11000970
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ren86/pseuds/Ren86
Summary: Ayaka Inoue was never your typical East Blue girl, having been born with patches of scales covering her body and a deep love of water. With an overbearing mother, aunt, and uncle, Aya tries to navigate her world and the world of pirates.Or, a collection of loosely connected drabbles involving my OC, Aya, who is part mermaid.





	1. Drabble One: The Start of a Beautiful Friendship (1st Person)

**Author's Note:**

> This is just a cross-post of my drabble series involving my OC, Aya, and Sanji/the rest of the crew. It's been a while since I've seriously been in the One Piece fandom, so their may be some OOC-ness, I'm not sure. Has not been Beta'd, so there may be typos.

I was fourteen the first time I met him. My mother was a Marine stationed in the East Blue at the time, and she was able to get to spend some time with me. I was excited; most days I stayed with my Aunt and Uncle, and they were okay enough, but I hardly ever got to spend time with Mom. I was practically bouncing when we boarded the ship, my long dress fluttering around me as I ran across the deck. I loved the wind in my face, the smell of sea in the air, the feel of the wood under my bare feet.

Mom rarely let me off the island we called home with my Aunt and Uncle. They always told me it was because I was sick, that they were worried the scales that grew on my skin would get worse off land and hurt me, but I never believed them. My scales were pretty and never hurt! Well, they did sometimes when they broke off and had to regrow, but that was beside the point. So even when I did get to go out, it was always bundled up in layers and makeup hiding the ones on my face. Even still, I was excited to leave land and go to the ship Mom called Baratie. She did have business there, to talk to the head-chef-guy, but allowed me to tag along since the restaurant was deemed relatively safe.

The sun was high in the sky by the time we reached the fish shaped floating restaurant, a man with an incredibly tall chef’s hat waiting near the entrance, watching the ship approach. And the moment the gangplank was lowered I was dashing across it, marveling at the ship. “Oh wow! Mom look! This ship has fins like a fish!” She patted my head as she walked past.

“That’s nice dear. Why don’t you go inside and get something to eat while I take care of business? Just tell the staff to put it under my name.” I sighed. Of course, Mom was always work first, play never. With a reluctant nod, I trudged past her and the tall-hat chef and went inside.

~~

The Baratie was beautiful and the food was wonderful and I was bored out of my mind. The staff was kind and polite, sure, but Mom still hadn’t joined me and it’d been over an hour. Sighing loudly, a laid my head against the table, poking my fork listlessly at the chocolate cake laid before me. “Miss? Are you alright?” A voice spoke up from my left, and when I perked my head up, it was a little blonde boy not much maybe a few years younger than me.

“I’m fine…. mostly.” I said, my voice going soft. I really didn’t like talking to strangers when Mom wasn’t around. “Where are your parents?”

He looked at me proudly, jabbing his thumb to his chest. “I’m the sous chef here!”

“…..What?”

“Mmh-hmm! But I’m on break, so I’d be happy to keep a lovely lady company~~” His words made me laugh, my face heating up at the compliment.

“But I don’t even know your name.” He paused at that, thinking for a moment before reaching out to take my free hand and planting a kiss to it.

“You may call me Sanji, fair maiden!”

I laughed again. “I’m Ayaka, but just call me Aya.” What a funny boy.

~~

Hours passed and we ended up on the second floor deck outside, laying on the cool deck and looking up to the stars, side-by-side. “Thanks for keeping me company, Sanji-kun.” I said softly, watching as the sky slowly turned color from orange to violet-purple, the stars finally coming out from hiding.

“Of course! It’s a gentleman’s job to make a lady happy.” He said, making me giggle, a hand coming out to push his face.

“Silly.” I pulled my hand away, but he stopped me, his own taking hold of mine and resting neatly between us. “Hey Sanji-kun, when Mom and I go back home, will you write to me? I bet your life is so much more interesting! You’ve seen pirates and marines and so much cool stuff - it’ll be great for my novel.”

“Your novel?”

“Yeah, I’m going to be a writer! I want to write down all sorts of stories.”

“That’s a nice dream, Aya-chan. I’ll write to you, and you can send me your stories!”

“Alright, deal. … Hey Sanji-kun, what’s your dream?”

“I want to find the All Blue!”

“The All Blue? What’s that?”

~~

It was late by the time Mom found me, curled up against the younger boy and half-asleep. And by the time we left the Baratie for home, I already couldn’t wait for my first letter.


	2. Drabble Two: So Close and Yet.... (1st Person)

Art of Aya by  **[Xarilin on tumblr](http://xarilin.tumblr.com/)**

 

The years would pass slowly, but the letters never stopped coming. Despite our four year age difference, Sanji and I quickly became fast friends. Every week I would run out to meet the mailman, eager to trade letters with them and read the stories Sanji-kun would share with me. Every week something new had happened on the restaurant on the sea, whether it be pirates, marines, or something else. There was always something happening on the Baratie! And some days, if we were lucky, I could sneak onto the Marine base around home (using Mom’s name to get in) and get to a Den Den Mushi to call him on the ship.

“I don’t believe it, Sanji-kun! You couldn’t have seen Red-Haired Shanks! Isn’t he a super-wanted pirate? How could he get away with being there?” Despite my hushed voice, I couldn’t contain my excitement. One of the Yonko! In the East Blue!

“It’s true, Aya-Chwan~~~! If I had known you were a fan, I would have gotten you an autograph!” He replied, making me giggle.

“Sanji-kun, please! I’d rather you not die because you asked a infamous pirate for his autograph.”

“It would have been worth it, just to see the smile on your face~~~”

“Silly. Oh, hey -” I stopped suddenly, hearing footsteps approaching the broom closet I was hiding in, “dang it… I think I have to go, Sanji-kun. I think someone’s found my hiding spot. But I’ll call again as soon as I can!”

~~

A total of nine years would pass. I was 23 when I finally left the island as hired help for a small cruise line that toured the East Blue. I had long since stopped hiding my scales, because despite it being some sort of ‘disease’ it clearly wasn’t contagious. In fact, it was why I was a waitress on this god-forsaken ship. Apparently my scales gave me an exotic look, making me more marketable for the ship. Ah well, it wasn’t like I would be hanging around for very long. One of the stops was the Baratie, and I fully intended on jumping ship there. Sanji and I had talked about it before, I’d get a job waitressing at the Baratie or something, and we’d start saving up money to buy our own ship so we could sail together and find the All Blue! Of course, we’d need at least a few other people, but with so many scrambling to get into the Grand Line or just out to sea in general, we both hoped it wouldn’t be too difficult.

Of course, it couldn’t be that easy.

I was tending to a customer below deck, taking their drink order, when the announcement came through the ship. “Lovely guests, please excuse the interruption but there will be delay reaching our next stop. Due to unforeseen events we will be navigating around the Baratie. Thank you for your understanding.”

What?! Skipping the Baratie?! That was the whole reason I took this job! “Excuse me, sir, I’ll be but a moment.” I murmured softly to the guest before rushing out the door and up onto the deck. I could already overhear guests gossiping as to why, but a common thread seemed to link the rumors. Pirates attacked the ship. My heart dropped as I approached the railing; I could see smoke on the horizon. Was Sanji okay? The guests there? The rest of the crew?

~~~

God bless rich idiots.

Due the insistence of the ever curious and nosy rich people on board, we did end up navigating fairly close to the restaurant, even briefly stopping.  As the smoke drew closer and the ship finally came into view, my heart sank into my stomach. The damage…. the Baratie would be out for a long, long time. The moment the ship got close enough, I jumped ship, landing easily on the other ship. Where was he?!

~~

He was gone. Not gone as in _gone_ , but gone. He’d left. With pirates. With _pirates!_  I couldn’t believe it - we had been so close, and he’d just… left! Without even leaving a note or a message for me or anything! Now what was I going to do?


	3. Drabble Three: No Way... (1st Person)

In the end, I gave up trying to find Sanji. By the time the tour ship reached land, there was already news of these so-called Strawhat Pirates making it into the Grand Line. I couldn’t exactly follow, so I had to accept that he was gone to me, probably forever.

And that really hurt. He was supposed to be my best friend, we were supposed to find the All Blue together. And he just leaves without a word? I returned home an absolute mess, heart crushed and absolutely dejected. Of course my family was no help, only telling me that they knew this would happen.

Three months later, I joined the Marines. Not as a fighter, but an archivist. It was easy work and helped keep my mind of things, had decent pay, and it allowed me to keep an ear open for any news about Sanji. Plus, I wasn’t in the Grand Line, so I didn’t often have to deal with pirates, so all in all it was decent enough job.

However this job didn’t last long, the upper ranks of the Marines hearing about my… unique appearance and demanding to examine me. And hey, it turns out I’m part merfolk! It explains the scales, anyways. They performed a blood test on me, and when the results came in and said I have merfolk blood, the Marines immediately decided that I would be headed for the New World, specifically Fishman Island. As it turns out, the World Goverment is trying to foster better relations with the Mer and Fish Folk of the island and sending a visually part merfolk marine as a cultural liaison is a dream come true for them.

And so that’s how I spent the next two years of my life, living on the island underwater. The merfolk welcomed me with open arms, for that I was thankful, and adjusting to life here has been easy. Some days I help around the Mermaid Cafe when needed, or do odd jobs for people. Anything to boost their view of humans and the government. I even got to speak with the royal family and speak to them about many of the issues that existed between the species, including the slave trade. But mostly, I stayed quiet, content to observe rather than get involved with their politics. Things were going well, considering the island’s sour feelings towards the goverment and humans in general - perhaps the Marines were right in that I would be the best thing to help achieve peace between the two. Things were calm in the little bubbled paradise.

Of course, that couldn’t last forever.

I was heading to Mermaid Cove when it happened. Keimi was heading to the cafe, three humans and… a small mink? in tow. It looked like another ship had made it through the ocean to the island; I sighed at the thought of sending another report to base about more pirates that had made it to the New World. Giving Keimi a wave, I started to come closer, thankful I no longer wore my Marine’s uniform. “Keimi, how are you today? Did you make some new frie….” I trailed off, eyes growing wide as I watched one of the people behind her get pulled away by a mermaid. A blonde with curly eyebrows.

There was no freaking way.


	4. Drabble Four: Friends (3rd person)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The rest of the drabbles will be in 3rd person. Also, Markus is just another OC of mine.

Art of Aya by  **[KATEmonstr](http://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fwww1.flightrising.com%2Fclan-profile%2Fn%2FKATEmonstr&t=NmE4NWMyNWMxNTRiZTFmNjQ4OGEzODQ1OGIxOTI5ZDAzNmZkMGVlMCxPR2JBREp4Yg%3D%3D&b=t%3AAEE4NBWgQRBmni-ZcGBsDw&p=https%3A%2F%2Fjensstoriesandrp.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F160878982933%2Fadorable-art-of-aya-art-by-katemonstr-on-fr&m=0)**  on Flight Rising.

 

She….

She couldn’t believe it.

There he was. In all his beautiful, lanky glory. Sanji. The man I had given hope on ever finding again. And he was mooning over a bunch of mermaids, hearts in his eyes - he probably didn’t even see me standing there. “I… I just remembered, Keimi. I’ve got… um, important things to do. I’ll see you later?” And without waiting for a response, she ran off, eyes screwing shut to stop the tears  that threatened to flow.

It hurt. God above, it hurt. To not only be left behind by someone who was supposed to be your friend, to not have any contact with them for years and then see them perfectly fine, perfectly happy, and totally ignoring you?

“Who was that? She looked really cool!”

“Oh, that was Aya. She’s lived here for a few years, and she works at the local library.”

“A library? Yaaawwwnnn, that’s boring!”

“SHUT UP, LUFFY!”

“She’s one of the few humans to live here. They say it’s because she’s one of the few that, despite only having some mermaid blood, was able to keep some of the powers.”

She could hear the conversation behind her grow distant as she ran off, blood rushing to her ears and making it hard to hear. She didn’t know where to go, but anywhere but here seemed good.

Then she ran face first into a wall of flesh. Stumbling back, strong arms caught her and a familiar voice washed over her. “Aya-chan, hmm? What happened, hmm?” Blinking her teary eyes open, she was met with the blue face of Markus, one of her closest fishman friends. “Why are crying little guppy, hmm?”

She smiled a little at the nickname. Markus had been one of the first to accept her, and she was always thankful for his company. He was a few feet taller than her, and much bigger in general, but he always treated her gently. He’d told her once that she was like a little sister to him, and he had no idea how happy that made her. “Markus… I… can we talk somewhere else?” She asked softly, squeaking when he then carefully picked her up and cradled in his arms.

“Sure, guppy. I know just the place.”

~~~

The place, as it turns out, was the library. It was closed today, but Aya still had the keys. It would be quiet, and most importantly, empty. A perfect place. And when he set her down among the many cushions in the children’s reading area and brought her a glass of water, she told her friend everything.

“I mean, I don’t know why it upset me so much, but just…” She sighed, looking down at the glass in her hands.

“Hey, it’s okay, hmm. You have every right to be upset, hmm. Why don’t you head on home and cuddle with that pup of yours, and I’ll go have a little talk with my friends and see what we can do, hmm.”

“Markus, no! I… please don’t get into a fight.” Her eyes grew wide and fearful of the thought of him getting into a fight on her behalf.

Markus laughed. “Don’t worry, little guppy, we’ll just be talking, hmm! Now you go on home.”

“I… alright, Markus. But please, stay safe.” She relented, standing up and making her way to the door.

“I always am, little guppy, I always am, hmm.”


	5. Drabble Five: Finally! (3rd Person)

When she finally got home, she did just as Markus suggested - she curled up in bed with a good book and her pup, Sir Fishington. Fishy, for short. Fishy had been given to as a gift early on in her stay on Fishman Island, and he was an adorable little ball of happiness and fluff. And he was always ready to snuggle, so he happily hopped up on the bed and settled himself on Aya’s lap.

At some point she had fallen asleep, book laying across her chest and Fishy keeping her lap warm. It was a peaceful afternoon, and after her cry fest that morning, she really did need the nap. And blessedly, it was a peaceful nap.

Well, at least until there was heavy knocking at her door.

Jerking awake, startling Fishy off her lap, Aya let out a shriek as she flailed off the bed. Her pup running ahead of her, barking like mad, Aya tried to quickly push herself up. “Just a second!” She called out, wondering who in the world would be knocking at her door. Markus had a key; if he wanted in for one reason or another, he usually just let himself in.

Rubbing the sleep from her eyes with one hand, the other smoothing down her hair, Aya trudged towards the door, Fishy keeping close. When she cast a glance at her dog, she noticed he was… tense. His fur was fluffed up and he was doing his best to look intimidating. That wasn’t a good sign.

So, now more awake and wary than she was just a minute ago, she opened the door.

And was attacked by a flurry of blond hair and black-clad arms. “AYA-CHWAAANNNNN!!!” An all-too familiar voice cried out, a head nuzzling into the crook of her neck as she was lifted up off the ground in a bone-crushing hug.

“S-Sanji-kun?!”


End file.
